I sit here tonight wondering if we should be apologizing to some other good liberal candidates for the resources Becky Greenwald's poorly run campaign sucked out of the system.
DesMoinesDem – you owe true liberals an apology for all the ink you gave Greenwald all over the blogasphere. You were blind in your support for her with numerous posts that were misleading and full of inaccurate facts about how that race was really playing out.
It was clear that Becky was already running a horrible race long before her bailout blunder — and after that it was more than over — it was a dead cause – unsaveable.
But you and so many others blindly marched on claiming that it was close and momentum was on her side. Anyone who had taken a one hour drive around that district could tell that she just was not doing well based on the lack of signs along the road. And yes — I know that signs don't win elections — but they are a good indication of the strength of organization and intensity of support – it just was never there for Greenwald.
Back to the question to soberly ponder: were precious financial resources – that could have been used on closer races where actual pick-ups were still within our grasp – wasted when they were directed to Becky's bumbling blundering campaign of woe and disaster?
I mean — come on – 21 points?!?!? Harkin and Obama's name on the same ballot should have gotten her to within 10 easily.
Think of what the money spent by the UAW and Emily's List and the many other groups that were misled into tossing cash because you and others made them think that anyone over at Greenwald knew what the heck they were doing.
Case in point – Al Franken alone could have benefited from that UAW money — that could have made the difference — but it was wasted on a waste of a campaign and candidate. Or how about Don Cazayoux who lost in LA? Kansas Congresswoman Nancy Boyda could have saved her seat with the EMILY's List funds wasted on Greenwald.
I think there are those – and you know who you are because I saw your postings all over the place – who owe Democrats an apology for your misjudgment on this one.
All the best — NOT William Meyer.
22 Comments
this diary is uninformed and inaccurate
I wrote many times, both here and at national blogs, about the need to donate to and volunteer for our state legislative candidates.
Al Franken raised and spent millions of dollars, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee also poured millions into the Minnesota Senate race. If Franken falls short, it is laughable for you to suggest he did so because of resources spent in IA-04.
Even if the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had spent money in IA-04, and they did not, that would have nothing to do with Franken.
The DCCC spent huge amounts of money trying to save Cazayoux and Boyda. You should look up that Swing State Project independent expenditure list. Cazayoux lost because a black Democrat ran as an independent and got 10 percent of the vote. Boyda lost because she represents a Republican-leaning district.
Neither of those outcomes have anything to do with IA-04.
By the way, EMILY’s list spent no money in IA-04, to my knowledge. They spent a lot of money on some candidates, but many of the women they endorsed were like Greenwald and received no direct help from the organization.
Further analysis needs to be done about why our down-ticket candidates underperformed. I agree with one thing you said, which is that Greenwald should have been able to get within 10 points with Obama and Harkin at the top of the ticket in a D+0 district.
We also need further analysis of why we didn’t make more gains in the Iowa House and Senate races. The Iowa Democratic Party did spend resources on these races, contrary to what you suggest in your diary.
Was the Obama campaign’s turnout machine not focused on the key precincts and towns we needed to win those races? I have heard that Obama volunteers were not handing out literature for down-ticket candidates most of the time. What was the Iowa Democratic Party’s GOTV operation like, and why did it not seem to work as well in some districts?
I would like to know more about the direct-mail strategy too. Jerry Sullivan lost House district 59 by 141 votes out of 16,000. I must have received at least 15 direct-mail pieces about that race, paid for by the Iowa Democratic Party. Maybe some of the money spent on direct mail to reliable Democratic voters such as myself could have been spent on reaching independents or unreliable voters, or responding to tv ads that attacked Sullivan. I don’t know the answer, I am just raising questions.
I make no apology for advocating for Greenwald and Hubler. About 95 percent of Congressional incumbents are re-elected. Taking them on is going to be uphill for any candidate.
desmoinesdem Thu 6 Nov 7:38 AM
Wrong
9/22/2008…
Emily’s List gave $5000 to Greenwald.
bill-spencer Thu 6 Nov 8:53 PM
warning to joethewelder
Post your opinions about the Greenwald campaign without including identifying details about Bleeding Heartland users.
This is your warning. Next time you will be banned.
desmoinesdem Thu 6 Nov 7:46 AM
question for Thinking Iraq
What were you doing to support our statehouse candidates?
I don’t see much in your diary or comment history at this blog. Maybe you should be asking yourself why you didn’t do more. Of if you were volunteering for one of our down-ticket candidates, maybe you could share some of your experience with Bleeding Heartland readers.
desmoinesdem Thu 6 Nov 8:10 AM
This is INSANE!
We won the Presidency in a landslide.
We gained 21 seats in the House.
We gained at least 5 seats in the Senate.
We kept our hold on IA-01 and IA-02; seats where, two years ago, we had neither.
We kept our hold on IA-03 after a bitter and divisive primary.
We gained 1 seat in the Iowa Senate, bringing our total in that body to 31–the highest it’s ever been in over 160 years of state government.
We gained 3 seats in the Iowa House.
Leave the circular firing squad to the Republicans. We didn’t have as good a night as it could have been, but, unlike them, we had a good night nonetheless.
We have two years to analyze the results from this election (which are still filtering in) and find out what worked and what didn’t and improve our strategy. Don’t start now and don’t do it like this. Don’t ruin the good thing we have going now with all this bickering, accusing and finger-pointing.
american007 Thu 6 Nov 2:58 PM
good points
It’s true, it was a good night overall. I think what’s frustrating for many (not just in Iowa, but also in other states) is that we had higher hopes for the down-ticket races, and they didn’t pan out.
desmoinesdem Thu 6 Nov 3:39 PM
Give it a rest
Meyers, or Not Meyers, or whoever you are.
It’s funny how the only race that draws this kind of anonymous anger is the 4th district. Is that because William Meyers is obsessed with Becky Greenwald and can’t grow up? Is it because the candidate is a woman? And why does Bleeding Heartland take the brunt of whatever is going on? Is it because Desmoinesdem is a she? I am tired of reading this kind of tripe.
Desmoinesdem can give money to whoever she wants to. So can you. It’s a free country. If you want to talk about money, go read the Elwyn Tinklenberg posts on Daily Kos, then tell me that whatever Becky got from bloggers even matters.
riverdog9 Thu 6 Nov 6:54 PM
I have noticed the same thing
Over and over brand new users have shown up to make hate filled comments about Becky Greenwald, “unipub”, “O’Grady”, “joethewelder” and “IBUGGEDTHEROOM” to name a few. Their comments sound similar enough to make me believe they are the same person.
I have also wondered if some of the reason these William Meyers supporters or more likely supporter (singular) are so aggressive is because of the female thing. I’ve seen several times that he blames those “bitter Clinton supporters,” though in the end most of those Clinton supporters voted for Obama in the general election. I’ve noticed that desmoinesdem (female) and myself (also female) seem to get attacked more aggressively than some users who use a male sounding name.
Shortly after the primary I posted some pro-greenwald comments on the Des Moines Register comment section under my real name (female) and was similarly attacked. I then created a male psudonem as an experiment (for that site only), and the attacks became much less venomous and personal.
lorih Fri 7 Nov 10:54 AM
Why
to knock on Meyers day after day is old. I mean, can you verify these people were meyers supporters or were they instead coming across that way to cover up as someone else?
Don’t be so quick to judge
joethewelder Fri 7 Nov 7:39 PM
Wrong Again, DesMoinesDem!
I am starting to really lose my faith in this blog:
On 9/22/2008…
Emily’s List donated…$5000 to Greenwald. You say that Emily’s List didn’t help her? You are wrong and you should apologize to your readers.
A simple search through her FEC report would have quickly shown you that.
I am disappointed but I am not surprised. Please make that correction soon.
bill-spencer Thu 6 Nov 8:41 PM
I will make that correction
but note that EMILY’s list did not mention Greenwald in any of their direct-mail to their members and did not make any independent media expenditures on Greenwald’s behalf.
When they commit to a candidate they spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
desmoinesdem Fri 7 Nov 4:57 AM